Preparation

1. Put oil, 3 tablespoons butter and chopped onion in a heavy 3-½-quart pot and turn heat to medium. Cook and stir onion until it has become translucent, then add chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring vegetables to coat well.
2. Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble meat with a fork, stir well and cook until beef has lost its raw, red color.
3. Add milk and let simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating, about 1/8 teaspoon, fresh nutmeg and stir.
4. Add wine and let it simmer until it has evaporated. Add tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When tomatoes begin to bubble, turn heat down so that sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through the surface.
5. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it will begin to dry out and the fat will separate from the meat. To keep it from sticking, add ½ cup water as necessary. At the end of cooking, however, the water should be completely evaporated and the fat should separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.
6. Add remaining tablespoon butter to the hot pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.

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Reviews

I cannot emphasize enough what Wyannedale wrote. This Bolognese takes an extremely long time, especially if you are doubling it! I suggest you make this on a day where you want to paint a few rooms in the house or read Crime & Punishment If you plan on making your own lasagna noodles too, may I suggest War & Peace!

This is not a review, but a question. I am serving 12 at Christmas dinner with this. There will also be a "surf" option in the form of crabcakes, plus a salad. How many recipes of this do you all think I need to make? Thanks!!

This is our favorite Bolognese, simple and uncomplicated, with no fussing or hovering over the stove. It’s what I make on a relaxed weekend at home. I sometimes swap in meatloaf mix, but the sauce is excellent both ways. I cut prep time by dicing the veg and chopping the tomatoes in my food processor.

This reminded me of the classic bolognese flavor I grew up with in NYC. SUCH a taste of home. It's complex and comforting all at once. I believe I should have used a dryer white wine, as mine turned out slightly sweeter than I'm used to (I'm fairly positive its the wine's fault, not the recipe). Next time, I'd also consider using either half pork and half beef, or adding some pancetta to the pan before adding the beef. A pork flavor would make this even richer and more interesting. My only actual criticism was that I did not like the chunks of tomato in the sauce. I picked out as many as I could and blended them, then added the puree back and it improved the flavor and texture tremendously. Next time I'd crush them all in advance.

This is of course 'the' Bolognese. A few notes that are not covered in this reprint of the recipe. You should truly simmer at the lowest possible definition of the word. It will take as much as an hour after the milk, and again after the wine. And THEN at least three once fully assembled. When complete, you will not have what you think of as pasta sauce. You will have meat and tomatoes to which some sauce clings. Hence, use a wider noodle, not spaghetti. Great dish to make on a day you are cleaning the house, or painting a room, or just reading a book by the fire. Start early. No penalty for holding longer, no possible way to rush it.